Search - DVD-Hammer Dulcimer-A Comprehensive Beginner's Course on DVD

Great music but not for the absolute beginner....

George R. Johnson | Quincy, MA United States | 01/13/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of several books/DVD/CD sets I purchased to attempt to learn how to play.... John is an awesome player and I think any intermediate player would benefit greatly from this DVD but for me it was pretty confusing...

John would play a piece and then would say rewind and play again until I got it... I was left to picking notes to try and match the music and it was not very efficient... Finally found Madeline's book (offered as a set with this DVD)which showed which strings I needed to hit and everything clicked... If you are an absolute beginner, purchase the set and start with Madeline's book first... You won't be sorry...."

Don't Wast Your Money

mdsphoto | Atlanta, GA | 01/13/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"DVD-Hammer Dulcimer-A Comprehensive Beginner's Course



I was very disappointed in this video. First, its about twenty years old and a poor transfer from VHS tape to DVD. Everything he teaches you about the basics of owning a dulcimer, you most likely already know. There was one interesting tidbit on quickly tuning the instrument. The remainder of the DVD is supposed to teach you how to play a few songs, but the learning methodology is terrible. You watch him play the song and then he tells you to keep rewinding the tape (DVD) to learn the song. Not only is this not an easy way to learn a song, but it is difficult to see where he is on the notes because of the poor quality of the video and his antiquated instrument.

I also bought the Mel Bay book and CD which was much more helpful at teaching me to play."